When a custom tabulation is purchased and the purchaser agrees to share the purchased files, do they become part of the Statistics Canada Open License Agreement?
I was asked by a DLI member what the terms of use would be for the NHS FSA Profiles and my understanding was that if purchaser agrees to share they are part of the STC Open License.
I think it gets potentially confusing, partly because the DLI License in 6(a) seems to imply that there could potentially be odd exceptions to custom products (beyond postal code data) that are not part of the Open License Agreement.
“6) authorized users shall be made aware, by my educational institution, of the conditions of use of the data by being provided with the appropriate licence as outlined in a, b and c below:
a) With a few exceptions, including the Postal CodeOM Conversion File and Postal CodeOM Federal Riding File and Postal CodeOM Conversion File Plus
(see: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/reference/exceptions-eng.html); the majority of our standard and custom products will be disseminated under the terms and conditions of the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.”
Answer
You are correct that custom tabulations fall under the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement, and thus can be subject to this agreement. Statistics Canada grants you a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to: "use, reproduce, publish, freely distribute, or sell the Information; use, reproduce, publish, freely distribute, or sell Value-added Products; and, sublicence any or all such rights, under terms consistent with this agreement."
Please also refer to the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) :
3. Does the Statistics Canada Open Licence apply to all Statistics Canada products?
The Open Licence governs the use of aggregated free and priced information, regardless of medium, format or reference year, that is published on Statistics Canada's website or available through a Statistics Canada representative. The Open Licence applies to both standard and custom products and services with the exception of Statistics Canada's postal products (see list) and Public Use Microdata Files (PUMFs). When you obtain a PUMF or a postal product from Statistics Canada, you will be informed of its terms and conditions of use. If you already have one of these products and would like information on its conditions of use, please Contact Us.
